Band 5.0 IELTS Writing Task 2 Model Answer

Overall Band Score: 5.0 · Cambridge IELTS 21 · 2026-10-08

IELTS Writing Task 2 question

All university undergraduate courses should include a period of time spent studying abroad or doing a work placement.

Do you think the advantages of this would outweigh the disadvantages?

Give reasons for your answer and include any relevant examples from your own knowledge or experience.

Student answer (Band 5.0)

It is true that all university provides the undergraduate courses include spent studying abroad or doing a work placement. This type of courses are more advantages as campared to disadvantages. I elaborate advantages of the undergraduate courses one by one.

Firstly, a student must spent a period of study in the abroad. This type of activity to improve the confidence and learn a new culture in other country. He learns new skills and build the communication skills. These skills are fruitful for the professional life of the student. Because after study, he will adopt the professional life.Then, these skills will bring incentive in her professional life. Similarly, doing a work placement is a good activity during undergraduate courses. This type of work is also called internship. Internship is a period of three to six month during study. In these months, students learn the professional skills and how to adopt a professional culture after undergraduate course.

There are some disadvantages of these type of pattern during undergraduate courses. If a student go abroad, he involves in the bad activities. Becasue he does not reach the mature life. So, the pattern of life become the burden of the whole family. Secondly, some poor students do not meet this criteria due to insufficient of funds. Thirdly, some student cannot catch a work placement due to no linkage in industrial sector. Internship or doing a work placement is required a reference. At the stage of student is very difficult to find a reference. These type of hurdles are not beneficial for a poor or needy students.

In short, going abroad and doing a work placement are a good routine at the stage of undergraduate courses.

AI examiner evaluation

Task Achievement / Task Response: Band 5.5

You take a position that the advantages outweigh the disadvantages and discuss both studying abroad and work placements, so the response is relevant to the question. You identify plausible benefits, including cultural learning, confidence and professional skills, and recognise financial and access barriers. However, the position is not fully sustained: the conclusion calls both options a “good routine” without directly weighing their benefits against the disadvantages. Several points are asserted rather than explained—for example, the claim that studying abroad improves confidence is not supported with a specific example, and the risks of “bad activities” are vague. Develop fewer ideas more clearly and explain why the benefits are greater overall. The response also meets the stated length requirement; eight words copied from the prompt were excluded from the count.

Coherence and Cohesion: Band 5.5

The response has a recognisable overall structure: an introduction, a paragraph on advantages, a paragraph on disadvantages and a concluding sentence. Sequencing words such as “Firstly,” “Similarly,” and “Secondly” help signal the order of points. However, progression within paragraphs is sometimes difficult to follow, and the links between ideas can feel mechanical. For instance, “Because after study, he will adopt the professional life” is not clearly connected to the preceding point, while “Then, these skills will bring incentive” does not explain the relationship between skills and incentives. References such as “this type of pattern” are also unclear. Use topic sentences to establish each paragraph’s focus, and connect each supporting explanation explicitly to the main argument.

Lexical Resource: Band 5.0

You use some relevant vocabulary for the topic, including “undergraduate courses,” “professional skills,” “internship,” and “insufficient funds.” This gives the reader a basic understanding of the issues being discussed. However, the range is limited and several word choices or collocations are inaccurate or unclear, such as “bring incentive,” “catch a work placement,” and “bad activities.” Repetition of “this type” and “professional life” also limits flexibility. Spelling errors, including “campared” and “Becasue,” further reduce accuracy. Aim to use more precise phrases for benefits and barriers, and check common collocations and spelling. For example, describe students as gaining practical experience or securing a placement rather than using the less natural expressions in the response.

Grammatical Range and Accuracy: Band 4.5

You attempt both simple and longer sentences, and the reader can generally identify your main points. However, control of sentence structure and basic grammar is inconsistent, which makes some sentences difficult to understand. Examples include “all university provides the undergraduate courses include spent studying abroad,” “a student must spent,” and “some student cannot catch.” These show problems with clause construction, verb forms and subject–verb agreement. Articles, plurals and prepositions are also often missing or inaccurate, as in “in the abroad” and “three to six month.” Some sentence boundaries and punctuation need attention, particularly in “professional life.Then.” Practise building accurate simple sentences first, then combine them using subordinate clauses while checking agreement, verb forms and articles.

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